I don’t know where to start on “Finestkind,” the saccharine, incomprehensible northeastern America fishing family drama from writer-director Brian Helgeland. As I watched this turgid muddle, a messy ball of nonsensical threads and worse performances, I couldn’t help but be reminded of Roger Ebert’s old maxim: No good film is too long, and no bad film is too short.
But what about a film so driven off course it needs a come to Jesus moment? “Finestkind” is that sort of picture. Clunky, nauseating, and perfunctory, it’s shocking that before the World Premiere screening in Toronto Helgeland called the movie a deeply personal work, the type of film he wished had been his first, and the kind he fears might be his last.
The introduction was enough to make you hope for a merely mindlessly entertaining flick. Unfortunately, “Finestkind” doesn’t even pass that lowest of bars.
But what about a film so driven off course it needs a come to Jesus moment? “Finestkind” is that sort of picture. Clunky, nauseating, and perfunctory, it’s shocking that before the World Premiere screening in Toronto Helgeland called the movie a deeply personal work, the type of film he wished had been his first, and the kind he fears might be his last.
The introduction was enough to make you hope for a merely mindlessly entertaining flick. Unfortunately, “Finestkind” doesn’t even pass that lowest of bars.
- 9/9/2023
- by Robert Daniels
- Indiewire
“Finestkind,” the name of both Brian Helgeland’s new film and the high-line fishing boat Tommy Lee Jones captains within it, is one of those words that New Englanders find hard to define, but seem to have no trouble using in a sentence. It means quality — of fish, of people, of principles — and it sets the bar for the shaggy family portrait Helgeland crafts around two half-brothers wrestling with their place in the blue-collar New Bedford community.
The movie, alas, is just so-so, tripping over its own feet for the first couple reels until such time as the siblings cross the Northern Line to (illegally) dredge for scallops in Canadian waters, and then it gets good. Not the genre elements, mind you. There’s a stock plot in which the brothers need $100,000 to get the Finestkind ship out of impound, turning to a harebrained heroin-smuggling plot that goes sideways in...
The movie, alas, is just so-so, tripping over its own feet for the first couple reels until such time as the siblings cross the Northern Line to (illegally) dredge for scallops in Canadian waters, and then it gets good. Not the genre elements, mind you. There’s a stock plot in which the brothers need $100,000 to get the Finestkind ship out of impound, turning to a harebrained heroin-smuggling plot that goes sideways in...
- 9/9/2023
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
Swedish duo Icona Pop have released their latest feel-good party track, “Feels in My Body.” The music video — shot by director Gustav Stegfors and cinematographer Crille Forsberg — depicts the duo dancing around an empty lobby, showing off their moves.
“‘Feels In My Body’ is all about hitting your peak, being so full of energy that you want to burst and share it with everyone around you,” Icona Pop’s Caroline Hjelt and Aino Jawo said in a statement.
Icona Pop have released several collaborations this year, including their isolation rave...
“‘Feels In My Body’ is all about hitting your peak, being so full of energy that you want to burst and share it with everyone around you,” Icona Pop’s Caroline Hjelt and Aino Jawo said in a statement.
Icona Pop have released several collaborations this year, including their isolation rave...
- 8/7/2020
- by Claire Shaffer
- Rollingstone.com
2019 is shaping up to be the year where Charles Manson and his horrific crimes are repeatedly depicted on screen. So far, we’ve seen the atrocious film The Haunting of Sharon Tate turn the Manson Family’s spree into exploitation horror. If you’ll recall, I listed it as one of the worst movies of 2019 so far. Later on this year, Manson will be a figure on the periphery of events in Quentin Tarantino’s hotly anticipated Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. That has the possibility of being one of the year’s best. Now, this week sees the release of Charlie Says, a contained look at the women in Manson’s circle. It’s an interesting flick, though one that ultimately ends up underwhelming. The film is half told in flashbacks, filling in gaps as needed. Essentially, the story for Charlie Says centers around the young women who...
- 5/11/2019
- by Joey Magidson
- Hollywoodnews.com
Certain events enter our collective consciousness and change its landscape forever. We watch news footage and listen to interviews. We read firsthand accounts. What we miss is the day to day unfolding of the plot, and as it turns out, the devil is in the details. Mary Harron’s latest film, Charlie Says, provides a unique look at the Manson family. Its emphasis lies not with Manson but his girls, their relationships, activities, and specifically, the incarceration of Susan Atkins, (Marianne Rendon) Patricia Krewinkle, (Sosie Bacon) and Leslie Van Houten (Hannah Murray). While never offering excuses for the actions of its principal subjects, it illustrates how the perfect storm of insecurities, a cultural movement, and a misguided need to be loved led to one of the most infamous crimes of the twentieth century.
Harron grasps the subject matter with the same elegance she brought to American Psycho. A sense of...
Harron grasps the subject matter with the same elegance she brought to American Psycho. A sense of...
- 5/8/2019
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
“Many people I know in Los Angeles believe that the ’60s ended abruptly on Aug. 9, 1969.” This famous quote, from Joan Didion’s essay “The White Album,” refers to the date of the murders of Sharon Tate and four others by members of Charles Manson’s self-dubbed “Family.” And in coolly definitive white-text-on-black, it opens Mary Harron’s “Charlie Says,” which tells the story of the sluggish moral reawakening of three of Manson’s murderous acolytes, in the years after the killings, when they were incarcerated in the California Institution for Women.
As scintillating and influential as Didion’s work is, it is not without its detractors — those who find her memoirist’s approach to the journalistic essay form too colored with the personal to earn the sweeping certainty of her generalizations. But “Charlie Says” could use a little of that forceful, opinionated clarity — even at the potential risk of giving offense — because without it,...
As scintillating and influential as Didion’s work is, it is not without its detractors — those who find her memoirist’s approach to the journalistic essay form too colored with the personal to earn the sweeping certainty of her generalizations. But “Charlie Says” could use a little of that forceful, opinionated clarity — even at the potential risk of giving offense — because without it,...
- 9/2/2018
- by Jessica Kiang
- Variety Film + TV
The 2016 MTV Video Music Awards took place Sunday, August 28 from New York’s Madison Square Garden, where the hottest musical acts reunited to celebrate another year of creative, empowering and artistic videos from the past year.
This year Beyoncé led the pack with 11 nominations and took home eight Moonmen including Video of the Year. Although Adele, with her Xavier Dolan-directed “Hello,” garnered a successful eight noms, she left empty handed.
Other winners of the night include Drake, Dnce, David Bowie and Coldplay. See the full list of winners below.
Read More: MTV Vma 2016 Live Stream: Watch the Video Music Awards Live Online
Video of the Year
Adele – “Hello”
Director: Xavier Dolan
Beyoncé – “Formation”
Director: Melina Matsoukas
Drake – “Hotline Bling”
Director: Director X
Justin Bieber – “Sorry”
Director: Parris Goebel
Kanye West – “Famous”
Director: Kanye West
Best Female Video
Adele – “Hello”
Director: Xavier Dolan
Beyoncé – “Hold Up”
Director: Jonas Åkerlund, Beyoncé Knowles...
This year Beyoncé led the pack with 11 nominations and took home eight Moonmen including Video of the Year. Although Adele, with her Xavier Dolan-directed “Hello,” garnered a successful eight noms, she left empty handed.
Other winners of the night include Drake, Dnce, David Bowie and Coldplay. See the full list of winners below.
Read More: MTV Vma 2016 Live Stream: Watch the Video Music Awards Live Online
Video of the Year
Adele – “Hello”
Director: Xavier Dolan
Beyoncé – “Formation”
Director: Melina Matsoukas
Drake – “Hotline Bling”
Director: Director X
Justin Bieber – “Sorry”
Director: Parris Goebel
Kanye West – “Famous”
Director: Kanye West
Best Female Video
Adele – “Hello”
Director: Xavier Dolan
Beyoncé – “Hold Up”
Director: Jonas Åkerlund, Beyoncé Knowles...
- 8/29/2016
- by Liz Calvario
- Indiewire
MTV has announced the nominees for the 11th annual Video Music Awards, with Beyoncé’s 11 nods leading the pack. Adele is up for eight awards, meanwhile, including Best Director for the Xavier Dolan–directed “Hello”; she’s up against Bey, Drake, Justin Bieber and Kanye West in that category. Full list below:
Video of the Year
Adele – “Hello”
Director: Xavier Dolan
Beyoncé – “Formation”
Director: Melina Matsoukas
Drake – “Hotline Bling”
Director: Director X
Justin Bieber – “Sorry”
Director: Parris Goebel
Kanye West – “Famous”
Director: Kanye West
Best Female Video
Adele – “Hello”
Director: Xavier Dolan
Beyoncé – “Hold Up”
Director: Jonas Åkerlund, Beyoncé Knowles Carter
Sia – “Cheap Thrills”
Director: Lior Molcho
Ariana Grande – “Into You”
Director: Hannah Lux Davis
Rihanna ft. Drake – “Work” (short version)
Director: Director X
Best Male Video
Drake – “Hotline Bling”
Director: Director X
Bryson Tiller – “Don’t”
Director: Cris
Calvin Harris ft. Rihanna – “This Is What You Came For”
Director:...
Video of the Year
Adele – “Hello”
Director: Xavier Dolan
Beyoncé – “Formation”
Director: Melina Matsoukas
Drake – “Hotline Bling”
Director: Director X
Justin Bieber – “Sorry”
Director: Parris Goebel
Kanye West – “Famous”
Director: Kanye West
Best Female Video
Adele – “Hello”
Director: Xavier Dolan
Beyoncé – “Hold Up”
Director: Jonas Åkerlund, Beyoncé Knowles Carter
Sia – “Cheap Thrills”
Director: Lior Molcho
Ariana Grande – “Into You”
Director: Hannah Lux Davis
Rihanna ft. Drake – “Work” (short version)
Director: Director X
Best Male Video
Drake – “Hotline Bling”
Director: Director X
Bryson Tiller – “Don’t”
Director: Cris
Calvin Harris ft. Rihanna – “This Is What You Came For”
Director:...
- 7/26/2016
- by Michael Nordine
- Indiewire
Exclusive: Agent Marie Perry has joined Gersh to serve as the newly created head of the Commercial Production Division. She will rep below-the-line talent with an emphasis on commercials and music videos. She is bringing to Gersh a client list that includes Crille Forsberg ("Cadillac" for director Joseph Kosinski), David Lanzenberg (Age Of Adaline for director Lee Toland Krieger, a Lionsgate feature with Blake Lively), William Rexer (Public Morals for Ed Burns/TNT), Ross…...
- 3/23/2015
- Deadline TV
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